And it begins...

Let’s start with the SCSA test. Dr Hottie recommended this for Itchey. He felt it would be one more step in making sure we had all the information we could before going into an IVF cycle.

This was a test that we ordered online (http://www.scsadiagnostics.com/) and I had it sent to my office instead of our house since Itchey wouldn’t be home. When it arrived, it looked like a mini R2D2. Seriously. My coworkers were cracking up and I was mortified that I had something so HUGE and weird looking sent to my office. Dear lord, it was GINORMOUS. So, I dragged it out to my car and took it home and put it in the middle of the kitchen floor for Itchey to appreciate when he got home from work. When he walked in, he burst out laughing and was like…”Are you serious???” We proceeded to open it up and it turned out to be full of padding, which was protecting the canister of liquid nitrogen inside. Basically, Itchey had to provide a “sample”, we played mad scientist and filled up small vials and clicked them onto this metal stick, then dropped said stick into the canister, where apparently, the samples immediately froze. Then, we packed everything back up into R2D2 and shipped it back to the lab.

The purpose of the test is to check for DNA damage. They use special dye and a laser to check the defragmentation of the DNA in the chromatin of Itchey’s swimmers. Apparently, studies are indicating that sperm with DNA damage beyond repair can hinder or stop successful fertilization of an egg. So, this test lets the RE know if sperm needs to be retrieved in a different manner (i.e. surgery…yikes), if donor sperm needs to be used or if everything is A-OK and the couple can proceed with IVF. It is pretty interesting stuff to say the least.

It took one week to get the results. Dr. H. happened to be in San Francisco and so he stopped by Itchey’s urologist’s office and they read the results together. Even though the results labeled Itchey in the GOOD to FAIR percentile, his doctor said that he orders this test quite frequently and that he has never seen anything better than the percentage that Itchey got. He said that he would put Itchey in the EXCELLENT percentile. Hooray! One less thing to worry about!! Now….on to my worst fears visited…